Rail-joint.



No. 850,712. PATENTED APR. 16, 1907.

J. G. ABBOTT. RAIL JOINT. IIIIIIIIIIIIII ED FEB.B,1907.

INVENTOH JuHN l; T'T

ATTORNEYS Unrrnp s rnrrnsfrnrnn'r OFFICE.

JOHN 0. insert or rrrrsncne, rnNNsYLvANIA.

smtwoim'. i

To all whom it may concern? Be it known that 1, JOHN C. Anno'r'r, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented en improved Rail-Joint, of which the following is a specification.

' The object of my invention to provide railroad-rails with an improved form of joint whereby their meeting ends are firmly yet detachahly connected without the use of fish-plates and bolts or other form of fastening independent of the rails tl'ieniselves.

The improvement is embodied in the form, construction, and arrangement of the engaging or interlocking portions of the meeting rail ends, as hereinafter described, and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side view of the meeting ends of rails constructed and connected according to my invention. Fig. 2 is s perspective view of the end portion of one of the rails,

and Fig. 3 is a corresponding view of the end portion of the other .rail. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the rails connected as in Fig. i

A and B indicate the ends ofrailroed-rsils, which save as to their engaging portions may be constructed in the usual form and pro ortions. It will be noted that the head an web of the rail A are cut away, thus leaving a projecting base portion, which is provided at the end with a tenon 1. to the tenon is a vertical met 2, which is has as flat top.

and socket 5. The rail B has an overhanging or to portion formed b an extension of the bee. 4 andis provir ed with an end tenon 5, ads ted to enter the socket 5 of the rail A, and a jacent to said tenon is a pendent prong 2*, which is adapted to enter the space between the post 2 and web 3 of the rail A, said prong 2 being spaced from the adjacent web 3' of the rail B. The lower end of the prong 2"- is fist, and when the rails are locked together, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the prong 2* rests upon the flat portion 6, that intervenes the post 2 and web 3 of the rail A, while the corresponding 0st 2 of the rail A is in contact wit 1 the our er side 6" of the rail B. (See Fig. 4.) The end of the base of rail B is provided with a socket 1", which is adapted to receive the tenon 1 of rail A, saidsoclret being open on the under side as well as at the outer end.

It will now be seen that if the rail B be Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed February 8,1907. Serial No 356,356.

Adjacent 'OI SldGVVlSG movement.

Patented April 16, 1907., Q;

raised and its projecting top portion be brought over the pro jccting' base portion of rail A and then lowered 'verticnlly the rails will be engaged or interlocked, usshown in with the pendent prong or portion 2 of rail 13' will prevent endwise movement of the rails. it will be perceived that when the rails are engaged, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, the tenon 5 ol' the ruil Bwill rest upon the base of the socket 5 of the rail A and the base of prong L2 of rail B will rest upon the base portion 6.

of rail A, while the upper end of the post 2 will bear against the under side of the head of rail 13, and the top portion of the basesocket l in rail B will also bear upon the top of the tcnon 1 of rail A. Thus the weight applied by the wheels of a passing train will be imposed directly upon the overhanging portion of rail B, and thereby upon the underlying portions of the rail A. The rails thus interlocked are secured upon ties .L' by means of spikes y in the usual way. The described construction of the huerlocking end portions of the rails may be produced by means of stamping-dies in the process of manufacturing the rails.

, I thus provide a rail-joint which is so constructcdthat it is strong and not liable to injury inuse, which enables the rails to be quickly put together 91' detached, and requires no supplemental fastening, such as fish-plates and bolts, for preventing endwise The joint may be also cheaply produced in manufacture.

lclaini l. A rail-joint comprising a rail end hav-,

.ing its head and web cut away thus Leaving a pro'octing base portion which is provided with on end tenon and an adjacent vertical post that is separated from the web, the head of the rail having a socket open at the top, end the other ruil cud having an overhanging head or top portion, the head provided with an end icnon, and an adjacent pendent prong that is spaced from the web and base, the lat tor having on end socket that is open on the under side, whereby the two rail ends are adapted to litto ether .tlld interlock as shown and described.

\ 2. A rail-joint formed by the comhhiutiou of the rail ends whose heads are provided, re-- while the post is in contact with the overspeotively, with an end socket and tenon and hanging head of the other rail, as shown and :0

with a vertical post and a pendent prong described. adapted to engage each other, the parts be- 5 ing thus adapted for engagement when one red end'is dropped upon the other, the tenon thus resting on the base of the socket and the SOL prong upon the base of the. opposite rail Witnesses JOHN C. ABBOTT.

ON C. KEMoN,

AMos W. HART. 

